Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
Here's mine -
The N&G Top 500 Albums of All Time!!!
- Thread starter Woob_woob
- Start date
RowBearToe
Well-Known Member
Here's mine:
TrainFan73
Frothy
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
Thank you! Also, if anyone takes that they need to listen to more Joni Mitchell out of anything that I ever post then my time on here has not been wasted!
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
panino
Well-Known Member
not good at list of absolutes, so I went through my records and listed what I consider my 50 favourites.
In alphabetical order:
In alphabetical order:
- Afterhours – Hai paura del buio?
- Air – Moon Safari
- Air – The Virgin suicides
- Arcade Fire – Funeral
- Arcade Fire – The suburbs
- Battles – Mirrored
- Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
- Beck – Midnite Vultures
- The Black Keys – Brothers
- Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever ago
- The Books – The lemon of pink
- Brad – Shame
- Cat Power – the greatest
- Cody Chestnutt – Landing on a Hundred
- Death in Vegas – The Contino Sessions
- De La Soul – 3 feet high and rising
- Dj Shadow – Endtroducing
- Faith No More – Epic
- Fever ray – Fever Ray
- Girls against boys – Cruise yourself
- Goldfrapp – Felt mountain
- Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballad of the Broken Sea
- Jane’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual
- Jeff Buckley – Grace
- Jesus Lizard – Liar
- Jesus Lizard - Goat
- The Jon Spencer Blues explosion – Extra Width
- Khruangbin – Con todo el mundo
- Kyuss – Blues for the red sun
- LCD Soundsystem - Sound of silver
- Leonard Cohen – I’m your man
- Martha Wainwright -s/t
- Massive Attack – Protection
- Nirvana – Nevermind
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Mustt Mustt
- PJ Harvey – Dry
- Pearl jam – 10
- Portishead – Dummy
- Primus – Sailing the seas of cheese
- Queen of the stone age – R
- Sigur Ros – Takk…
- Sinead o’Connor – the lion and the cobra
- Steinski – what does it all mean?
- Soundgarden – Louder than love
- The Stokes – Is This it?
- Supergrass – I should Coco
- Tricky – Maxinequay
- Turin breaks – the Optimist
- The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
- White Zombies – La sexorcisto – Devil music vol.1
Im going thru all my records - just to see if I can get rid of some weight and am in the Beatles section now. I feel like I should have included them in my top 100. I think they're a band that i'm usually more impressed with their full body of work rather than albums though. Although I do love me some Revolver.
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
Loving the Spotify playlists. Throwing them all in a folder and hitting shuffle on that, pretty damn good random station!
RowBearToe
Well-Known Member
Agreed, going through them is really cool! It's fun to see what songs were picked by people who picked the same albums as me. And interesting that in most cases where we picked the same album, we picked different songs haha
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
That's the beauty of these albums we consider to be the best, there's more than one great moment!
Mtcvinyl
Well-Known Member
Here is mine.
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
We'll see how far I get with this - it's really hard to write a review of this many of my favorite albums in a row without each of them just being some variation on: "I really like this album. All the songs are really good." haha
#46-50
50) This 2006 album was recommended by a friend who lived in the same city as the artist and had met him, which isn't usually a great sign, but I really ended up falling in love with album. I just searched this forum, and this artist has never been mentioned here - which is just WILD to me!!! This album was in heavy rotation (for me) in my college years, and I've probably listened to it more than most of the others on this list. It's really easy to listen to, and I'm ALWAYS in the mood for this kind of singer-songwriter album. The songs flow effortlessly along with melodies that are just catchy enough to hook you into listening to them over and over but not enough to ever get annoying or sound gimmicky. It's not like a GREAT or IMPORTANT album and there's not a lot that stands out about it but it always makes me feel the same way and always hits the same and it's just exactly what I want it to be each time. The songs feel kind of time-tested and sturdy and you can relax into them and feel safe and supported inside them. I really love his voice, too - he never sounds like he's "performing" - just really unassuming and genuine. I don't know if this makes sense but just listening to some of these songs and hearing certain parts makes me pretty emotional and gives me chills and it's not for any clear reason that I can point to - it just feels like one of those things that reminds me that life is still ok and music is still beautiful and just makes me feel warm and happy even though a lot of the songs sound kind of sad or melancholy. This is comfort music.
49) This 2008 album sprang onto my radar because I went to a free music festival to see some other bands that I'd actually heard of. But this band came on and put on one of the most exciting and fun shows I've ever been to. It somehow felt both dangerous and sexy at the same time - like the rules were being broken but everyone there was up for it. I've since seen this band 6 or 7 more times, which is the most I've seen any band. This was my go-to album to put on at parties in grad school and people would get really into it and want to know who it was. Unfortunately, their albums don't have nearly the same energy as the live shows, and due to a key departure from the band years ago, even their live shows now are pale imitation of what they once were. But these songs are embedded in my consciousness and I will never be too old to drag myself to one of their shows to bop around with the kids.
48) This 2013 album isn't one that I've listened to quite as much as others on the list, but every time I do, I come away convinced that this artist is severely underrated - but he HAS at least been mentioned on here by a few folks. Also fits in the singer-songwriter box, but I especially love the instrumentation he uses. These songs are beautifully crafted and his voice is so warm and cozy like a well-worn sweater. The sounds of the guitar and piano and strings just seep into my guts, and his voice just fits in perfectly. This hits a similar sweet spot to #50 for me, which is like my ultimate comfort-type music. It doesn't feel quite as personal as #50, and maybe I should have switched them, but I think, in many ways, this is just objectively a better album and he's a more popular artist, so that may have influenced my ranking. There's just very little about this album that I would change and there aren't many albums that I can say that about.
47) I listened to this 1999 album quite a lot in high school. Distinctly remember having this in my portable CD player with anti-skip protection technology and using the cassette adapter to play it through the tape deck in my car (since my car didn't have a CD player). Listening to this album takes me back to those early mornings driving to school by myself. I've never seen this band live and I don't really know anyone else who listens to them, even though this album was actually very popular back then. It was probably much bigger in the UK though. For whatever reason, I remember this album making me sad and initially feeling confused about how melancholy it is, but also how much I was liking it. Just felt like maybe they were being a little too honest at times. Didn't realize until this album that that's something I'm definitely into.
46) This 2005 album always surprises me with how good it is. It's a genre that I used to listen to a lot of, but hasn't necessarily stayed popular - emo pop punk. A friend had introduced me to their previous album and I enjoyed that, but this album blew me away with how much of a step forward it was. There was suddenly so much more variety and range and so many different colors coming through - but it's still focused with clean lines, rather than a sprawling mess. It's a concept album with beautiful artwork and framing devices, but the individual songs are all really great on their own, too. There are just so many catchy melodies crammed in and so many interesting musical ideas that you don't even really absorb them before it moves on to the next one. Every time I listen to this album, I'm just kind of blown away by how good each of the songs are and how hard they hit me in the feels. There a sense of urgency and conviction in the singer's voice but also a really calm and measured delivery and that combination is really compelling. I always have this feeling that I want to know the stories behind these songs because it feels like there's a context behind these ideas and memories and phrases that feel like they come from real situations, but I'm also glad to not know so I can focus on what it all means to me.
#46-50
50) This 2006 album was recommended by a friend who lived in the same city as the artist and had met him, which isn't usually a great sign, but I really ended up falling in love with album. I just searched this forum, and this artist has never been mentioned here - which is just WILD to me!!! This album was in heavy rotation (for me) in my college years, and I've probably listened to it more than most of the others on this list. It's really easy to listen to, and I'm ALWAYS in the mood for this kind of singer-songwriter album. The songs flow effortlessly along with melodies that are just catchy enough to hook you into listening to them over and over but not enough to ever get annoying or sound gimmicky. It's not like a GREAT or IMPORTANT album and there's not a lot that stands out about it but it always makes me feel the same way and always hits the same and it's just exactly what I want it to be each time. The songs feel kind of time-tested and sturdy and you can relax into them and feel safe and supported inside them. I really love his voice, too - he never sounds like he's "performing" - just really unassuming and genuine. I don't know if this makes sense but just listening to some of these songs and hearing certain parts makes me pretty emotional and gives me chills and it's not for any clear reason that I can point to - it just feels like one of those things that reminds me that life is still ok and music is still beautiful and just makes me feel warm and happy even though a lot of the songs sound kind of sad or melancholy. This is comfort music.
#50 - Rocky Votolato "Makers"
49) This 2008 album sprang onto my radar because I went to a free music festival to see some other bands that I'd actually heard of. But this band came on and put on one of the most exciting and fun shows I've ever been to. It somehow felt both dangerous and sexy at the same time - like the rules were being broken but everyone there was up for it. I've since seen this band 6 or 7 more times, which is the most I've seen any band. This was my go-to album to put on at parties in grad school and people would get really into it and want to know who it was. Unfortunately, their albums don't have nearly the same energy as the live shows, and due to a key departure from the band years ago, even their live shows now are pale imitation of what they once were. But these songs are embedded in my consciousness and I will never be too old to drag myself to one of their shows to bop around with the kids.
#49 - Starfucker "Starfucker"
48) This 2013 album isn't one that I've listened to quite as much as others on the list, but every time I do, I come away convinced that this artist is severely underrated - but he HAS at least been mentioned on here by a few folks. Also fits in the singer-songwriter box, but I especially love the instrumentation he uses. These songs are beautifully crafted and his voice is so warm and cozy like a well-worn sweater. The sounds of the guitar and piano and strings just seep into my guts, and his voice just fits in perfectly. This hits a similar sweet spot to #50 for me, which is like my ultimate comfort-type music. It doesn't feel quite as personal as #50, and maybe I should have switched them, but I think, in many ways, this is just objectively a better album and he's a more popular artist, so that may have influenced my ranking. There's just very little about this album that I would change and there aren't many albums that I can say that about.
#48 - Gregory Alan Isakov "The Weatherman"
47) I listened to this 1999 album quite a lot in high school. Distinctly remember having this in my portable CD player with anti-skip protection technology and using the cassette adapter to play it through the tape deck in my car (since my car didn't have a CD player). Listening to this album takes me back to those early mornings driving to school by myself. I've never seen this band live and I don't really know anyone else who listens to them, even though this album was actually very popular back then. It was probably much bigger in the UK though. For whatever reason, I remember this album making me sad and initially feeling confused about how melancholy it is, but also how much I was liking it. Just felt like maybe they were being a little too honest at times. Didn't realize until this album that that's something I'm definitely into.
#47 - Travis "The Man Who"
46) This 2005 album always surprises me with how good it is. It's a genre that I used to listen to a lot of, but hasn't necessarily stayed popular - emo pop punk. A friend had introduced me to their previous album and I enjoyed that, but this album blew me away with how much of a step forward it was. There was suddenly so much more variety and range and so many different colors coming through - but it's still focused with clean lines, rather than a sprawling mess. It's a concept album with beautiful artwork and framing devices, but the individual songs are all really great on their own, too. There are just so many catchy melodies crammed in and so many interesting musical ideas that you don't even really absorb them before it moves on to the next one. Every time I listen to this album, I'm just kind of blown away by how good each of the songs are and how hard they hit me in the feels. There a sense of urgency and conviction in the singer's voice but also a really calm and measured delivery and that combination is really compelling. I always have this feeling that I want to know the stories behind these songs because it feels like there's a context behind these ideas and memories and phrases that feel like they come from real situations, but I'm also glad to not know so I can focus on what it all means to me.
#46 - Mae "The Everglow"
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
Well hey, I got through 5 more - these were even easier to write about. gaaaahah I love these albums so much.
#41-45
45) This 2016 album is the most recent release on my list. I'm a sucker for family bands with multiple vocalists harmonizing with each other and this band might be my current favorite example of that. These songs just sweep me up and away with their melodies and harmonies. It's pretty slickly produced for this folksy kind of music. I've seen this band live only once but it was so much fun because they seem to absolutely love singing together and have so much fun with each other. They did some streaming shows during covid that were a blast. One of the things that I love about this band is how they seem to get lost in their songs - like it feels like a mystical experience sometimes when they're singing and harmonizing with each other. I love that feeling that they're channeling something bigger that exists outside of time and space. And what a beautiful album title.
44) This 2009 album - geez. I don't even remember how I came across it but it gave me the craziest feeling that it was made just specifically for me. The swelling orchestra backing up several of the tracks, the choir, the folksy lead singer and pastoral feel of the songs. This is another album that I don't really know many other people who like it or who have even really heard of the band - looks like there are only a couple mentions of them on this forum. I had the opportunity to see them at a small festival in Boston while I was in grad school and it was just wonderful. I feel like they don't tour much (at least not in the US) but I'm so glad they ended up playing that show because these songs just feel so personally important to me and it was incredible to see them performed live. It just sounds so cinematic and melodramatic and somehow doesn't crumble under the weight of all of the buildup. This band's catalogue seems to switch genres with each album, but I'd call this one their "Pet Sounds" album.
43) This 1972 album is one of the seven albums on this list that's older than I am. I've always been drawn to this artist's gentle music, his distinctive voice and guitar-playing, and his inventive songwriting. His songs sound so much simpler and more natural than they actually are - he just made his own rules for how melody and rhythm work and pulled off the trick of making these songs sound like they're just ordinary traditional folk songs. I recently listened through his whole discography again and this album overtook the others as my favorite. It's just so consistently great. There's a strangely appealing mixture of melancholy and empathy that disarms you and makes you open up to these songs and let them just seep into your soul.
42) This 2000 album is something of a guilty pleasure. I don't actually feel any guilt about it, but I feel like people don't take this artist as seriously I as I do, haha. Some of the lyrics are pretty lame, but I love his sense of rhythm and just how clean and slickly produced everything sounds without sounding like every other R&B artist. These songs are just compulsively danceable, but in a more casually sophisticated way - they're not like dancefloor BANGERZ. I recently picked up some of his more recent albums on vinyl from Deep Discount, and he's still got it! It looks like I'm the only person who's mentioned this artist on this forum more than once, and the only other person to reference him one time was @NathanRicaud. These songs are meant to be really sexy [I mean look at that album title], but they just sound like good pop/r&b songs to me. Like he's kind of suave and has a nice voice, but I also hear a kind of nerdiness to these songs that kind of makes me laugh so I'm not sure that I'd put it in the "babymaking" genre of music. Like maybe he's trying a little too hard to be cool and fancy, haha [I mean, look at that album cover]. I don't know, but it's fun, and I like it.
41) This 2004 album is maybe one of the most ambitiously cinematic sounding albums that I've ever heard. The opening track is an instrumental overture that just keeps raising the stakes and building the tension to just insanely preposterous heights to the point that you're almost just exhausted by the time the second track starts haha. But I love that intensity - it's not like schmaltzy or fun, but I'd still call it "gorgeous". It's a long album, but each song is pretty distinctive and while there's a prevailing mood and feel overall [I would call it "snarling and prophetic, but big-hearted"], there's a lot of variety, too. It looks like @Joe Mac and @dbarila have posted about this album on here, but this is another album where I haven't really met anyone in person who has heard of this band. I remember finding someone from my school on facebook when it first started who also listed this band as one of his favorites and just friending him based on that alone haha. This album came out right when I was making the transition to college and it felt in certain ways like a good soundtrack for wiping the slate clean and starting over in a new place.
#41-45
45) This 2016 album is the most recent release on my list. I'm a sucker for family bands with multiple vocalists harmonizing with each other and this band might be my current favorite example of that. These songs just sweep me up and away with their melodies and harmonies. It's pretty slickly produced for this folksy kind of music. I've seen this band live only once but it was so much fun because they seem to absolutely love singing together and have so much fun with each other. They did some streaming shows during covid that were a blast. One of the things that I love about this band is how they seem to get lost in their songs - like it feels like a mystical experience sometimes when they're singing and harmonizing with each other. I love that feeling that they're channeling something bigger that exists outside of time and space. And what a beautiful album title.
#45 - Joseph "I'm Alone, No You're Not"
44) This 2009 album - geez. I don't even remember how I came across it but it gave me the craziest feeling that it was made just specifically for me. The swelling orchestra backing up several of the tracks, the choir, the folksy lead singer and pastoral feel of the songs. This is another album that I don't really know many other people who like it or who have even really heard of the band - looks like there are only a couple mentions of them on this forum. I had the opportunity to see them at a small festival in Boston while I was in grad school and it was just wonderful. I feel like they don't tour much (at least not in the US) but I'm so glad they ended up playing that show because these songs just feel so personally important to me and it was incredible to see them performed live. It just sounds so cinematic and melodramatic and somehow doesn't crumble under the weight of all of the buildup. This band's catalogue seems to switch genres with each album, but I'd call this one their "Pet Sounds" album.
#44 - Noah and the Whale "The First Days of Spring"
43) This 1972 album is one of the seven albums on this list that's older than I am. I've always been drawn to this artist's gentle music, his distinctive voice and guitar-playing, and his inventive songwriting. His songs sound so much simpler and more natural than they actually are - he just made his own rules for how melody and rhythm work and pulled off the trick of making these songs sound like they're just ordinary traditional folk songs. I recently listened through his whole discography again and this album overtook the others as my favorite. It's just so consistently great. There's a strangely appealing mixture of melancholy and empathy that disarms you and makes you open up to these songs and let them just seep into your soul.
#43 - Nick Drake "Pink Moon"
42) This 2000 album is something of a guilty pleasure. I don't actually feel any guilt about it, but I feel like people don't take this artist as seriously I as I do, haha. Some of the lyrics are pretty lame, but I love his sense of rhythm and just how clean and slickly produced everything sounds without sounding like every other R&B artist. These songs are just compulsively danceable, but in a more casually sophisticated way - they're not like dancefloor BANGERZ. I recently picked up some of his more recent albums on vinyl from Deep Discount, and he's still got it! It looks like I'm the only person who's mentioned this artist on this forum more than once, and the only other person to reference him one time was @NathanRicaud. These songs are meant to be really sexy [I mean look at that album title], but they just sound like good pop/r&b songs to me. Like he's kind of suave and has a nice voice, but I also hear a kind of nerdiness to these songs that kind of makes me laugh so I'm not sure that I'd put it in the "babymaking" genre of music. Like maybe he's trying a little too hard to be cool and fancy, haha [I mean, look at that album cover]. I don't know, but it's fun, and I like it.
#42 - Craig David "Born to Do It"
41) This 2004 album is maybe one of the most ambitiously cinematic sounding albums that I've ever heard. The opening track is an instrumental overture that just keeps raising the stakes and building the tension to just insanely preposterous heights to the point that you're almost just exhausted by the time the second track starts haha. But I love that intensity - it's not like schmaltzy or fun, but I'd still call it "gorgeous". It's a long album, but each song is pretty distinctive and while there's a prevailing mood and feel overall [I would call it "snarling and prophetic, but big-hearted"], there's a lot of variety, too. It looks like @Joe Mac and @dbarila have posted about this album on here, but this is another album where I haven't really met anyone in person who has heard of this band. I remember finding someone from my school on facebook when it first started who also listed this band as one of his favorites and just friending him based on that alone haha. This album came out right when I was making the transition to college and it felt in certain ways like a good soundtrack for wiping the slate clean and starting over in a new place.
#41 - Hope of the States "The Lost Riots"
DownIsTheNewUp
Well-Known Member
So I don't think I'm ever gonna get around to longer blurbs for my top 20. Thus:
20) Nicolas Jaar: Space is Only Noise (2011) Downtempo Electronic
A jarring (pun intended) debut for electronic music's most versatile modern voice-- find a way to listen (youtube) to his Ray Charles sampled "I Got A" (which was removed from later copies) to see what makes Jaar's downtempo house music so intoxicating.
19) Outkast: ATliens (1996) Rap
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It was really hard to pick between Stankonia (which rattled my understanding of rap as an eighth grader), Aquemini and this one-- but this is the one I go back to most often.
18) David Bowie: Station to Station (1976) Art Rock
I don't think I need to explain this one.
17) Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece (1974) Singer / Songwriter
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Moondance was the one I grew up listening to with my father; Veedon Fleece is the one I discovered as an adult-- via a Stereogum list that placed it as his best album. A couple years later VMP pressed it and cemented it as my favorite... SDP could also be here. Van Morrison's peak rivals anybodys.
16) Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream (1994) Alt-Rock
Both iconic and vital to the evolution of my taste in music.
15) Anderson Paak: Malibu (2016) Hip-Hop, R&B
An album so uniquely delicious that it both served as my gateway into R&B and the album that finally convinced my (Stevie Wonder loving) mother that rap has merits as an artform.
14) Aesop Rock: Labor Days (2001) Hip-Hop
Hailed as a masterpiece upon release, but on the brink of being lost to time-- a dizzying display of lyrical genius that takes dozens of listens to pick apart. Blockheads beats hold up two decades later, and I can only hope that college kids and hip-hop junkies continue to uncover this album for years to come.
13) Talk Talk: Laughing Stalk (1991) Post-Rock
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Breathtaking. Bold. Ahead of it's time.
12) The Beatles: Abbey Road (1970) Rock
Rubber Soul or the White Album could have been here too, but Abbey Road is the one that best juggles ambition with perfection.
11) Can: Ege Future Days (1973) Art Rock, Krautrock
The most underrated band of the 70's-- I kept switching between Ege Bamyasi and this one. Future Days lacks a track as memorable as Vitamin C, but laid the blueprint for a lot of what modern electronica does and was probably the more influential of the two.
A jarring (pun intended) debut for electronic music's most versatile modern voice-- find a way to listen (youtube) to his Ray Charles sampled "I Got A" (which was removed from later copies) to see what makes Jaar's downtempo house music so intoxicating.
19) Outkast: ATliens (1996) Rap
It was really hard to pick between Stankonia (which rattled my understanding of rap as an eighth grader), Aquemini and this one-- but this is the one I go back to most often.
18) David Bowie: Station to Station (1976) Art Rock
I don't think I need to explain this one.
17) Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece (1974) Singer / Songwriter
Moondance was the one I grew up listening to with my father; Veedon Fleece is the one I discovered as an adult-- via a Stereogum list that placed it as his best album. A couple years later VMP pressed it and cemented it as my favorite... SDP could also be here. Van Morrison's peak rivals anybodys.
16) Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream (1994) Alt-Rock
Both iconic and vital to the evolution of my taste in music.
15) Anderson Paak: Malibu (2016) Hip-Hop, R&B
An album so uniquely delicious that it both served as my gateway into R&B and the album that finally convinced my (Stevie Wonder loving) mother that rap has merits as an artform.
14) Aesop Rock: Labor Days (2001) Hip-Hop
Hailed as a masterpiece upon release, but on the brink of being lost to time-- a dizzying display of lyrical genius that takes dozens of listens to pick apart. Blockheads beats hold up two decades later, and I can only hope that college kids and hip-hop junkies continue to uncover this album for years to come.
13) Talk Talk: Laughing Stalk (1991) Post-Rock
Breathtaking. Bold. Ahead of it's time.
12) The Beatles: Abbey Road (1970) Rock
Rubber Soul or the White Album could have been here too, but Abbey Road is the one that best juggles ambition with perfection.
11) Can: Ege Future Days (1973) Art Rock, Krautrock
The most underrated band of the 70's-- I kept switching between Ege Bamyasi and this one. Future Days lacks a track as memorable as Vitamin C, but laid the blueprint for a lot of what modern electronica does and was probably the more influential of the two.
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Murfocakes
Well-Known Member
Nice selection. Station To Station appearing again. It could end up the highest Bowie albumSo I don't think I'm ever gonna get around to longer blurbs for my top 20. Thus:
20) Nicolas Jaar: Space is Only Noise (2011) Downtempo Electronic
View attachment 81289
A jarring (pun intended) debut for electronic music's most versatile modern voice-- find a way to listen (youtube) to his Ray Charles sampled "I Got A" (which was removed from later copies) to see what makes Jaar's downtempo house music so intoxicating.
19) Outkast: ATliens (1996) Rap
It was really hard to pick between Stankonia (which rattled my understanding of rap as an eighth grader), Aquemini and this one-- but this is the one I go back to most often.
18) David Bowie: Station to Station (1976) Art Rock
I don't think I need to explain this one.
17) Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece (1974) Singer / Songwriter
Moondance was the one I grew up listening to with my father; Veedon Fleece is the one I discovered as an adult-- via a Stereogum list that placed it as his best album. A couple years later VMP pressed it and cemented it as my favorite... SDP could also be here. Van Morrison's peak rivals anybodys.
16) Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream (1994) Alt-Rock
Both iconic and vital to the evolution of my taste in music.
15) Anderson Paak: Malibu (2016) Hip-Hop, R&B
An album so uniquely delicious that it both served as my gateway into R&B and the album that finally convinced my (Stevie Wonder loving) mother that rap has merits as an artform.
14) Aesop Rock: Labor Days (2001) Hip-Hop
Hailed as a masterpiece upon release, but on the brink of being lost to time-- a dizzying display of lyrical genius that takes dozens of listens to pick apart. Blockheads beats hold up to time, and I can only hope that college kids and hip-hop junkies continue to uncover this album for years to come.
13) Talk Talk: Laughing Stalk (1991) Post-Rock
Breathtaking. Bold. Ahead of it's time.
12) The Beatles: Abbey Road (1970) Rock
Abbey Road or the White Album could have been here too, but Abbey Road is the one that best juggles ambition with perfection.
11) Can: Ege Future Days (1973) Art Rock, Krautrock
The most underrated band of the 70's-- I kept switching between Ege Bamyasi and this one. Future Days lacks a track as memorable as Vitamin C, but laid the blueprint for a lot of what modern electronica does and was probably the more influential of the two.
DownIsTheNewUp
Well-Known Member
And the final batch:
10) The Fugees: The Score (1995) Rap
Perfection. And the reason that I joined Vinyl Me Please back in the day-- the common pressing was absolute dogshit.
9) Gorillaz: Demon Days (2005) Hip-Hop, Electronic
Introduced countless American teenagers to the sound pallet of electronica AND a number of underground hip-hop's most important artists (setting the stage for a # of my college obsessions). Fifteen years later, there is still nothing that sounds quite like it.
8) Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile (1999) Alt-Rock, Industrial
The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine are both close to my heart and were definitely more important to the zeitgeist. But this is a list about favorites... and 20(ish) years later, I feel vindicated by the fact that countless sites have gone back and revised their initial score while admitting they were wrong (allmusic, Pitchfork). This album is the 90's "The Wall"-- a painstakingly ambitious double album whose brilliance became clear with time.
7) Grimes: Visions (2012) Pop, Indie Electronic
It's funny that @Rip_City used the phrase "alien" when describing this album because when I first came across it, I described it to a friend as "an album so alien in its textures that I wondered if it was dropped here on a thumb drive by somebody from the future". Art Angels could have been here too-- Grimes changed my taste in music more than any artist of the 10's.
6) Talking Heads: Remain in Light (1980) New Wave, Art Rock
To quote Trent Reznor (who lists it as his favorite album): ". A strange, synthetic, polyrhythmical piece of art with African influences which confused me in every way... The great thing is that the record can still be approached from so many different directions without losing its puzzles.”
5) Radiohead: Amnesiac (2001) Alt-Rock, Electronic
Radiohead is my favorite band so I'm well aware there are people who will find this sac-religious... but this is the album that caused me to fall head over heels in love with the band, and I'd take it 10/10 times over Kid A. It got overshadowed by the fact that Kid A came first even though they were recorded at the same time. I also flirted with putting OK Computer and / or Hail to the Thief here.
4) Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975) Progressive Rock
Picking a favorite Pink Floyd album was almost as hard as picking a favorite Radiohead album. In the end, this is the one that I've listened to the most times.
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) Alt-Rock, Funk
I'm honestly baffled by the lack of Red Hot Chili Peppers on these lists. Fruciante is one of the best guitarists of all time; Flea is one of the most talented people to ever slap a bass. There was a clear evolution to their sound over the years and their discography is littered with iconic releases. All that said-- Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the easy pick even if Californication was the introduction for my middle school self.
2) Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Hip-Hop
I think I listened to this album 50 times in the first two weeks of it's release. The fusion of avant garde jazz and G-funk took multiple listens to fully absorb, and the themes only grow more relevant with time.
1) Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) Indie Rock
I was introduced to Modest Mouse via my Unitarian Universalist youth group in early high school. A misfit group of stoners, punks and well-rounded nerds-- we all shared music religiously every Sunday. The Moon and Antarctica had just dropped at the time, and it's Floydian textures provided an easy pathway into the world of indie rock. That album would be at #8 on this list if I was allowing multiple entries per artist. However, the reason the Lonesome Crowded West sits at #1 is because a) the lyrics and b) it fully drowned me in the sounds of 90's indie rock that remain a touchstone of my musical tastes.
I can't really do justice to the brilliance of this album without spending more time articulating my thoughts so instead, I will post a link to the mini-documentary that Pitchfork did a couple years back. It's an awesome watch.
"Well all the Apostles-they're sitting in swings
Saying "I'd sell off my Savior for a set of new rings,
And some sandles with the style of straps that cling best to the era"
So all of the businessers in their unlimited
Hell where they buy and they sell and they sell all their
Trash to each other but they're sick of it all
And they're bankrupt on selling
And all of the angel
They'd sell off your soul for a set of new wings and anything gold
They remember
The people they loved their old friends
And I've seen through'em all seen through 'em all and seen through most everything
All the people you knew were the actors
All the people you knew were the actors
Well, I'll go to college and I'll learn some big words
And I'll talk real loud
Goddamn right I'll be heard
You'll remember all the guys that said all those big words he must've
Learned in college
And it took a long time
I came clean with myself
I come clean out of love with my lover
I still love her
Loved her more when she used to be sober and I was kinder"
Perfection. And the reason that I joined Vinyl Me Please back in the day-- the common pressing was absolute dogshit.
9) Gorillaz: Demon Days (2005) Hip-Hop, Electronic
Introduced countless American teenagers to the sound pallet of electronica AND a number of underground hip-hop's most important artists (setting the stage for a # of my college obsessions). Fifteen years later, there is still nothing that sounds quite like it.
8) Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile (1999) Alt-Rock, Industrial
The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine are both close to my heart and were definitely more important to the zeitgeist. But this is a list about favorites... and 20(ish) years later, I feel vindicated by the fact that countless sites have gone back and revised their initial score while admitting they were wrong (allmusic, Pitchfork). This album is the 90's "The Wall"-- a painstakingly ambitious double album whose brilliance became clear with time.
7) Grimes: Visions (2012) Pop, Indie Electronic
It's funny that @Rip_City used the phrase "alien" when describing this album because when I first came across it, I described it to a friend as "an album so alien in its textures that I wondered if it was dropped here on a thumb drive by somebody from the future". Art Angels could have been here too-- Grimes changed my taste in music more than any artist of the 10's.
6) Talking Heads: Remain in Light (1980) New Wave, Art Rock
To quote Trent Reznor (who lists it as his favorite album): ". A strange, synthetic, polyrhythmical piece of art with African influences which confused me in every way... The great thing is that the record can still be approached from so many different directions without losing its puzzles.”
5) Radiohead: Amnesiac (2001) Alt-Rock, Electronic
Radiohead is my favorite band so I'm well aware there are people who will find this sac-religious... but this is the album that caused me to fall head over heels in love with the band, and I'd take it 10/10 times over Kid A. It got overshadowed by the fact that Kid A came first even though they were recorded at the same time. I also flirted with putting OK Computer and / or Hail to the Thief here.
4) Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975) Progressive Rock
Picking a favorite Pink Floyd album was almost as hard as picking a favorite Radiohead album. In the end, this is the one that I've listened to the most times.
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) Alt-Rock, Funk
I'm honestly baffled by the lack of Red Hot Chili Peppers on these lists. Fruciante is one of the best guitarists of all time; Flea is one of the most talented people to ever slap a bass. There was a clear evolution to their sound over the years and their discography is littered with iconic releases. All that said-- Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the easy pick even if Californication was the introduction for my middle school self.
2) Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Hip-Hop
I think I listened to this album 50 times in the first two weeks of it's release. The fusion of avant garde jazz and G-funk took multiple listens to fully absorb, and the themes only grow more relevant with time.
1) Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) Indie Rock
I was introduced to Modest Mouse via my Unitarian Universalist youth group in early high school. A misfit group of stoners, punks and well-rounded nerds-- we all shared music religiously every Sunday. The Moon and Antarctica had just dropped at the time, and it's Floydian textures provided an easy pathway into the world of indie rock. That album would be at #8 on this list if I was allowing multiple entries per artist. However, the reason the Lonesome Crowded West sits at #1 is because a) the lyrics and b) it fully drowned me in the sounds of 90's indie rock that remain a touchstone of my musical tastes.
I can't really do justice to the brilliance of this album without spending more time articulating my thoughts so instead, I will post a link to the mini-documentary that Pitchfork did a couple years back. It's an awesome watch.
"Well all the Apostles-they're sitting in swings
Saying "I'd sell off my Savior for a set of new rings,
And some sandles with the style of straps that cling best to the era"
So all of the businessers in their unlimited
Hell where they buy and they sell and they sell all their
Trash to each other but they're sick of it all
And they're bankrupt on selling
And all of the angel
They'd sell off your soul for a set of new wings and anything gold
They remember
The people they loved their old friends
And I've seen through'em all seen through 'em all and seen through most everything
All the people you knew were the actors
All the people you knew were the actors
Well, I'll go to college and I'll learn some big words
And I'll talk real loud
Goddamn right I'll be heard
You'll remember all the guys that said all those big words he must've
Learned in college
And it took a long time
I came clean with myself
I come clean out of love with my lover
I still love her
Loved her more when she used to be sober and I was kinder"
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Crabbers
Well-Known Member
And the final batch:
10) The Fugees: The Score (1995) Rap
Perfection. And the reason that I joined Vinyl Me Please back in the day-- the common pressing was absolute dogshit.
9) Gorillaz: Demon Days (2005) Hip-Hop, Electronic
Introduced countless American teenagers to the sound pallet of electronica AND a number of underground hip-hop's most important artists (setting the stage for a # of my college obsessions). Fifteen years later, there is still nothing that sounds quite like it.
8) Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile (1999) Alt-Rock, Industrial
The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine are both close to my heart and were definitely more important to the zeitgeist. But this is a list about favorites... and 20(ish) years later, I feel vindicated by the fact that countless sites have gone back and revised their initial score while admitting they were wrong (allmusic, Pitchfork). This album is the 90's "The Wall"-- a painstakingly ambitious double album whose brilliance became clear with time.
7) Grimes: Visions (2012) Pop, Indie Electronic
It's funny that @Rip_City used the phrase "alien" when describing this album because when I first came across it, I described it to a friend as "an album so alien in its textures that I wondered if it was dropped here on a thumb drive by somebody from the future". Art Angels could have been here too-- Grimes changed my taste in music more than any artist of the 10's.
6) Talking Heads: Remain in Light (1980) New Wave, Art Rock
To quote Trent Reznor (who lists it as his favorite album): ". A strange, synthetic, polyrhythmical piece of art with African influences which confused me in every way... The great thing is that the record can still be approached from so many different directions without losing its puzzles.”
5) Radiohead: Amnesiac (2001) Alt-Rock, Electronic
Radiohead is my favorite band so I'm well aware there are people who will find this sac-religious... but this is the album that caused me to fall head over heels in love with the band, and I'd take it 10/10 times over Kid A. It got overshadowed by the fact that Kid A came first even though they were recorded at the same time. I also flirted with putting OK Computer and / or Hail to the Thief here.
4) Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975) Progressive Rock
Picking a favorite Pink Floyd album was almost as hard as picking a favorite Radiohead album. In the end, this is the one that I've listened to the most times.
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) Alt-Rock, Funk
I'm honestly baffled by the lack of Red Hot Chili Peppers on these lists. Fruciante is one of the best guitarists of all time; Flea is one of the most talented people to ever slap a bass. There was a clear evolution to their sound over the years and their discography is littered with iconic releases. All that said-- Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the easy pick even if Californication was the introduction for my middle school self.
2) Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Hip-Hop
I think I listened to this album 50 times in the first two weeks of it's release. The fusion of avant garde jazz and G-funk took multiple listens to fully absorb, and the themes only grow more relevant with time.
1) Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) Indie Rock
I was introduced to Modest Mouse via my Unitarian Universalist youth group in early high school. A misfit group of stoners, punks and well-rounded nerds-- we all shared music religiously every Sunday. The Moon and Antarctica had just dropped at the time, and it's Floydian textures provided an easy pathway into the world of indie rock. That album would be at #8 on this list if I was allowing multiple entries per artist. However, the reason the Lonesome Crowded West sits at #1 is because a) the lyrics and b) it fully drowned me in the sounds of 90's indie rock that remain a touchstone of my musical tastes.
I can't really do justice to the brilliance of this album without spending more time articulating my thoughts so instead, I will post a link to the mini-documentary that Pitchfork did a couple years back. It's an awesome watch.
Oooh amnesiac up top... just curious how old were you when this dropped? I was in college and remember going to a album listening party a few months before it’s release.
l do adore amnesiac and also curious, have you ever seen them live, specifically on the tour for amnesiac? It was pretty special
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
Quite nice, @DownIsTheNewUp...4 of our top 20 in common.
DownIsTheNewUp
Well-Known Member
Oooh amnesiac up top... just curious how old were you when this dropped? I was in college and remember going to a album listening party a few months before it’s release.
l do adore amnesiac and also curious, have you ever seen them live, specifically on the tour for amnesiac? It was pretty special
So, I was a freshman in HS when it dropped-- but being that CO's taste in music was shockingly insular at the time (and really until two public radio stations started at the beginning of last decade), I wasn't really exposed to Radiohead until I moved to LA for college in 2005. At which point, a buddy from Hong Kong was like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE NEVER HEARD RADIOHEAD!!!". I then went back to CO over that first winter break and preached the gospel to everyone and the response was either "OMG, this is the musical equivalent of heroin" or "this is depressing, let me play you some Phish".
So basically, I was exposed to every pre-In Rainbows all at once (and then In Rainbows dropped my Jr year). I think that because of this my discography ranking is super strange to a lot of Radiohead die-hards. Part of why Amnesiac is here instead of Ok Computer though is because I had crippling insomnia all through my 20's and this was an album that reliably helped me fall asleep.
Also, I've seen them live twice. Once for the In Rainbow tour (which was disappointing because the venue's SQ was lacking) and then at Coachella 2017 (which was fucking awesome).
@Rip_City -- Yeah, lots of overlap in the 50-30 range too. Provides some context to why our end-of-the-year lists are always fairly aligned.
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